As DirectAdmin continues to take a larger market share away from the cPanel platform, many users are looking for alternative control panels that can take its place. In this industry there DirectAdmin is the absolute winner as the alternative of cPanel due to its almost identical setup to cPanel and ease of use. This guide was made for those who are looking to switch to DirectAdmin from cPanel or those who have questions on how it works.
Frequently Asked Questions
- With cPanel, we have a WHM panel and then cPanel accounts for each account we host. Does DirectAdmin have this?
YES. In directadmin, you will have a primary panel that acts as a web host manager where all individual control panels are created just like WHM/cPanel. You can control all of your accounts from this WHM panel and enter into each individual control panel either from the main web host manager of DirectAdmin or by using that individual control panels login credentials.
- If I migrate over to DirectAdmin from cPanel, will all of my settings and login details be the same?
YES. If you decide you want to move your VPS or your resellers account to DirectAdmin, ALL of your login details will remain the same. All cPanel usernames and passwords, your primary WHM username and password, your WordPress username and passwords, and your email account username and passwords will ALL remain the same.
- What about email settings with my email programs, will they remain the same?
YES. You will use the same exact port settings, mailserver settings, user/password credentials as cPanel. ALL of the settings will remain the same
- What about pricing, will that increase?
NO. DirectAdmin is the only control panel out of the top three panels that is NOT owned by the same company that owns cPanel and Plesk and therefore is not under the same dangers of facing a price increase. The company behind DirectAdmin has actually come out and publicly made a statement that they will not be increasing their pricing as their system has been out and solid for many years now.
- What are the cons of moving to DirectAdmin? There have to be some cons right?
NO. On the contrary. Moving to DirectAdmin has a much better interface, is easier to use, and is 100% mobile compatible unlike cPanel. The only con would be the very small learning curve since the panel looks different.
Screenshots of DirectAdmin
VPS Main Web Host Manager Homescreen
Resellers Account Web host manager homescreen
List control panels screen (Shows all your websites/customers:
End users cPanel (In DirectAdmin, it is referred to as “User Panel”)
Important Notes & Tutorials:
In DirectAdmin, as “WHM” is referred to as a primary control panel or web host manager. A “cPanel” is referred to as a “User”. So if you want to “Create a new cPanel account”, in DirectAdmin you would “Add a new user”.
How to create an email account in DirectAdmin
As the hosting industry goes through a max exodus from cPanel, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve. Moving to DirectAdmin not only accomplishes that, but it also saves you a tremendous amount of money. We hope you find this guide useful.
